1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication networks, and in particular, to applying selective call forwarding between a mobile device and a fixed line device based on the location of the mobile device.
2. Statement of the Problem
Service providers typically provide numerous voice and/or data services to subscribers using one or more wireline and/or wireless communication networks. Exemplary services include cellular telephony, access to the Internet, gaming, broadcasting or multicasting of audio, video, and multimedia programming, etc. Mobile devices, such as cell phones, personal data assistants, smart phones, pagers, text messaging devices, global positioning system (GPS) devices, network interface cards, notebook computers, and desktop computers, may access the services provided by the communication network over an air interface with one or more base stations. Communication between the mobile devices and the base stations are governed by various standards and/or protocols, such as the standards and protocols defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP/3GPP2).
The service providers also provide supplementary services to users. One type of supplementary service is call forwarding. Call forwarding (or call diverting) is a feature or service that allows an incoming call to one directory number to be redirected to another directory number. In a typical communication network, a switch or other call control function receives a call attempt to a first directory number. The switch identifies that a call forwarding service has been activated for the first directory number. When the call forwarding service has been activated, the switch may forward the call immediately to a second directory number. Alternatively, the switch may attempt to connect the call to the first directory number, and then forward the call to the second directory number if the first directory number is busy or if the call is not answered at the first directory number after a certain time period (i.e., after two rings).
One problem with present call forwarding services is that there is not much flexibility in how call forwarding is applied. For instance, a user subscribing to a call forwarding service may define a directory number from which calls are forwarded, a directory number to which the calls are forwarded, and one or more calling party directory numbers that trigger the call forwarding service. Other than defining these directory numbers, a user subscribing to a call forwarding service has few or no other options for defining how the call forwarding service is applied. There may be instances where it is advantageous to perform the call forwarding service selectively, such as based on the location of a mobile device. Present communication networks do not allow for such selective applications of the call forwarding service.